That was my first thought as well. No matter how anybody feels about whether Yzerman should or shouldn't come to Detroit, I definitely don't want the guy to have to deal with a serious health issue, whether for himself or a loved one.

1) Brisebois was garnering interest from other teams.
2) Tampa didn't want to be left without either of them so gave Yzerman the option to either sign long term with them, or step aside so Brisebois can have the job now
3) Stevie didn't want to stay long term.

After that the question is why did he not want to stay long term. And the only two answers I can think of are he doesn't want to be a GM at all anymore, or he wants to come back to Detroit.

That was my first thought as well. No matter how anybody feels about whether Yzerman should or shouldn't come to Detroit, I definitely don't want the guy to have to deal with a serious health issue, whether for himself or a loved one.

Yeah, the timing seems off. Why make this decision a week before training camp starts? Seems like there is more to this story than has been made public yet. Stepping down for family/health issues maybe.....

He's staying on as an advisor to fulfill the balance of his contract - that's just through this year.

It would make a lot of sense for him to "step down" in that role with the Lightning for '18-'19, making any leave for a GM position in Detroit less controversial. As an advisor, he wouldn't have the final say in any TBL decisions. As a GM, he would (with the blessing of his owner, of course). Being an advisor reduces the potential appearance of any collusion with Detroit in the event that Yzerman, as GM in a final pre-Detroit year, made a decision that was ultimately to the detriment of Tampa, or at least had the appearance of being so.

Also, Seattle aims to play for the 20-21 season. Vegas announced the signing of their GM in July of 2016 despite not being actively involved (sans the Duke et al signings) in the NHL season until essentially a year later. There's no reason to think the Illitch family, after his quarter century with Detroit, wouldn't give Holland the opportunity to speak with Seattle reps if he so desired. Considering Detroit is almost certainly not going to make the playoffs, Holland should have some spare time post-March to discuss his options with Seattle. And with Yzerman not having a contract with Tampa beyond the end of this season, he'd be available shortly thereafter, or perhaps even around the same time, depending on the nature of his advisorship.

Very interesting situation all around and little reason to think this doesn't point towards a reign in Detroit absent any outstanding personal issues. Tampa has every chance to be a contender this year. No reason Yzerman shouldn't want to be the current GM for a potential Cup winning team if he didn't think he was sacrificing something big to do so.